More distortions from Azmar

One of my objectives in writing this letter is to respond to the allegations Ken Moore made against me in his “An open letter to Cinta,” Letter to the Editor, which appeared in the Friday, May 28, 2004, edition of the Saipan Tribune. Aside from setting the record straight, I welcome this opportunity to help enlighten my fellow CNMI citizens on this important Pagan mining issue. My responses are as follows:

* You did not appear at my behest. You invited yourself twice to our United Northern Mariana Islanders Association meetings at the Carolinian Utt. The fact is, we’d never met until the day you and Glen Palacios appeared unexpectedly at one of our meetings that summer of 1998.

Before the first meeting you attended with us adjourned, you asked to speak. I recall that one of your opening remarks was: “If fishing up in the Northern Islands is what I’m told it is, you can take care of your transportation needs by having a fish-canning business on Pagan.” You told us you could put together a group of investors who would invest in such a business. You then asked to come back a second time to give us a more thorough presentation. I appealed to the Northern Islanders to hear you out.

As the elected president of our organization, I subsequently agreed to have a lunch meeting with you to discuss your proposal. At that lunch meeting, I expressed my desire to explore a business venture that would be mutually beneficial to all parties.

* You are way off on either your perception or your presentation of what the people wanted. The reality is that the people got impatient with you and shouted their frustrations because they had no faith in you or your business plan. The people weren’t shouting for you to hurry and “make this happen,” as you now claim. They were telling you to stuff it, and that’s putting it mildly!

One of the “boisterous souls” who objected so strenuously to you and your plans was the former Mayor of the Northern Islands, Daniel Castro. Mr. Castro shouted, “Para hafa hit ni business plan kumo ti sina hit man hanao kattan?” Mr. Castro’s point was, what’s the use of making a business plan while we’re stuck here on Saipan? And just for the record, I was extremely embarrassed that your participation in the meeting angered some people. If you recall, I kept appealing to the folks to hear you out.

* The people of Pagan did not ask for your so-called plan. It is entirely your own idea and primarily for your own benefit. Under your plan, in which the people of the CNMI get a very small slice of the pie, there is little of substance for the Northern Islands residents or the people of the CNMI.

* You talk about an Azmar website that’s only been up since January of this year and consists of just a few short pages of useless statements with no details to back them up. Not only is this site worthless, but the majority of the Northern Islands residents don’t have internet access anyway.

After our heated e-mail exchanges last year in which I expressed my utter dissatisfaction with your tiny seven-page draft proposal calling for a 7% CNMI-93% Azmar split, I wrote a letter requesting documents from MPLA to review since all I had was an old out-dated draft copy of a permit request. You received a copy of that letter, in which I also requested that MPLA send Mayor Taisakan a copy of Azmar’s latest proposal and any other proposals being contemplated by MPLA. I was informed by Mr. John Oliver Gonzales that MPLA could not release the documents to us because they contained “confidential proprietary information.” I subsequently received a one-page reply letter from MPLA’s executive director, Mr. Henry Hofschneider, informing me that MPLA has not signed any agreements with Azmar. No documents were ever subsequently shared with me nor, to my knowledge, with Mayor Taisakan per my request.

Since you’re asking to help yourself to the public’s resources, shouldn’t we, the public, have FULL disclosure of your plans? I challenge you now to direct MPLA to release ALL information provided to them immediately and let the public decide if you and Azmar are legitimate contenders to begin with.

* Actually, promises have been made to the Northern Islands residents in the past. Nothing ever came of these promises. Now you, too, are making promises for the same reason. You have offered nothing to back up your promises. You set aside no funds in advance for the Northern Island residents; you provide no specifics on how you’re going to deliver; you have no credible timeline; and you offer no operational plan.

* On your allegation that Jesse Palacios and his brother Glen kept me in the Azmar loop throughout 2003 and meeting with me on several occasions, this is simply untrue. The first time Glen approached me was after I’d already learned from Ed Guerrero, consultant to Mayor Taisakan, that you fellas were now in the pozzolan-mining business. Glen proposed a meeting with his brother Jesse, and we set a meeting for that coming Saturday morning at Coffee Care. Glen promised to get back to me after he confirmed the meeting with Jesse, but he never did, so the meeting never took place.

Your claim that Glen and Jesse met with me on several occasions to keep me in the “Azmar loop throughout 2003” is a total lie. Although I have twice run into Glen, I have never met his brother Jesse. We did exchange a few e-mail messages last year, but that’s the extent of my contact with him.

* As for me not raising any concern about the terms and conditions specified in your permit, that’s another lie. Allow me to quote you a few excerpts of my August 5, 2003, e-mail message to you:

“… The thing is, Ken, the 7% that you’re talking about that’s going to the CNMI will go directly into the General Fund. Since we have absolutely NO control over the General Fund, this means absolutely ZILCH to us. All this will mean is that we Northern Islanders would remain right at the tail end of the money line where we’ve ALWAYS been! ….”

“… [A]re we going to be left clinging to disingenuous promises uttered long ago, left twisting in the wind with our mouths wide open, waiting for our fair share of pozzolan gold, only to get specks of pozzolan dust blown in our eyes? I’ll tell you what, Ken. I’m not a member of the MPLA Board but, if I were, I would begin to worry about my fiduciary responsibilities as an MPLA Board member. I mean, 7%? What gives?….”

“… Why ONLY 7% for the CNMI, Ken? Am I missing something here? The Northern Islanders are NOT greedy; they just want their fair share–and that includes fairness for the CNMI as well as AZMAR. Please help me understand this because if I’m going to explain it, I’ve GOT to understand it myself….”

From my last e-mail message to you in January 2004:

“I must say, though, that I was disappointed that you seemed firm with your proposal of a 7% split for the CNMI and 93% for Azmar. I just don’t see myself throwing my support (hence, the Northern Islands residents’ support) behind this proposal–or *any* other proposal for that matter—unless the split is more equitable.”

* I am not aware of any environmental impact study on any plan to mine Pagan. But don’t try to sidestep the issue. The question is: Where is YOUR environmental impact plan?

* I would like you to inform me which “25 key political figures throughout the CNMI” received a copy of your business proforma. Perhaps the public can work with them and get their thoughts on this issue. Maybe one of them will shed some light on your plans.

* Which is laughable, my perception that a 7 percent royalty for the CNMI is peanuts or your estimates of the costs of doing business in a field in which you have no experience?

* Conclude whatever you want to conclude but, in my book, two of the most important qualities I look for in friendships are trust and honesty. The Golden Rule, Mr. Moore. My “agenda,” as you put it, remains the same as it was six years ago when you invited yourself to our UNMIA meetings at the Carolinian Utt. The only thing that’s changed now is you’re pitching mining instead of fishing.

* You say you would love to hear my ideas? Do you really want to work together for the betterment of all? Then perhaps you will take note of the model below, which embodies a concept of what would truly serve the best interests of the people of the CNMI. Here’s an excerpt from an e-mail message from a friend of mine:

“Your situation reminds … me of that of the Southern Ute Indian tribe, whose land is adjacent to Durango’s. The tribe owns vast quantities of natural resources, mostly underground resources such as oil and gas. They very shrewdly had their resources assessed by experts (just as you have proposed to do), formed tribal companies to extract the resources, etc., diversified their assets as the $$ began to pour in, and hired public relations experts to market their products and businesses. Now they have tons of money with which they’ve built a rec center, a casino (which brings in lots more money), and all sorts of other businesses and things that benefit and employ tribal members.”

Despite whatever else you or your associates might think or say, Mr. Moore, the fight isn’t against you, Azmar, J.G. Sablan, or anybody else and mining, but rather, it’s for the resources and the protection of the environment that rightfully belong to people of the CNMI and is the home of the Northern Islands residents. It is also a fight to include the voices of the Northern Islands residents and the people of the CNMI in the decisions that directly affect them.

I Taotaota. I Tanota. I Linalata. Aramasasch. Faliwasch. Malawasch. Our People. Our Land. Our Way of Life.

Cinta M. Kaipat
President
United Northern Mariana Islanders Association
Saipan and Northern Islands